Scripture of Days Past

Chapter 9: Cultivation

After hearing what Qiao Zhi had to say, Chu Qiguang immediately felt like he was being scammed. He had never expected an answer like this, and he couldn’t help but wonder if Qiao Zhi was messing with him.

“I was an immortal?”

Qiao Zhi nodded in confirmation. His voice rang out directly in Chu Qiguang’s mind as he explained, “You were a heavenly immortal in your past life, but you were banished to the mortal world by the Heavenly Emperor and reduced to a mortal for breaking heavenly laws. The reason you still haven’t awakened your memories from your past life is because you haven’t become a true cat lover. Once you become a lover of cats, your life will change.”

Chu Qiguang was completely dumbfounded. No matter how he thought about this, it simply didn’t make any sense.

Ergou was an immortal in his past life? But I was an Earthling in my past life! Is there some type of misunderstanding here? Surely Earth isn’t the immortal realm, and what does any of this have to do with loving cats?

He then thought of the cat palace that he had built for himself after becoming rich in his past life. It was certainly true that he had kept many cats in that palace.

Could this really have something to do with loving cats?

“What heavenly laws did I break in my past life?” Chu Qiguang asked.

“You were too promiscuous in your past life and had a fling with the daughter of the Heavenly Emperor,” Qiao Zhi lamented with a shake of his head.

“Just how petty is this Heavenly Emperor?” Chu Qiguang complained with furrowed brows. “He banished me to the mortal realm just because I had a fling with his daughter?”

“Sorry, did I say daughter? I meant daughters. You had a fling with seven of the Heavenly Emperor’s daughters in a single night.”

Chu Qiguang was speechless.[1]

Alright, that definitely wasn’t me!

“You were my disciple in your past life,” Qiao Zhi continued. “I couldn’t bear to see you suffer as a mortal, so I came to restore your immortality and return you to the heavens.”

Chu Qiguang definitely didn’t dare to reveal that he was no longer Ergou after hearing this. What if Qiao Zhi deemed him to be some wild spirit who possessed Ergou and killed him?

“Come with me. Let’s go somewhere else,” Qiao Zhi said before turning and leading Chu Qiguang to a cliff where no other animals were around.

Chu Qiguang turned back and discovered that the two feral cats who had led him there earlier were squished together in a shrub, curiously watching him and Qiao Zhi. The moment their eyes met, the two cats immediately ducked their heads back into the shrub as if they had been startled.

Qiao Zhi stood with his back to Chu Qiguang, looking up at the moon as he said, “To become an immortal, one needs both hard work and blessings from heaven and earth. Today, I will teach you how to walk the path toward immortality. In essence, it all comes down to cultivation, and in this world, there are two paths of cultivation: martial arts and Dao arts.”

At this point, Chu Qiguang was very much intrigued. He knew that this could be a huge opportunity, so he was eager to learn more.

“What’s the difference between martial arts and Dao arts?” he asked.

Through a detailed explanation from Qiao Zhi, Chu Qiguang gained a basic understanding of martial arts and Dao arts.

Every human was born with a body and a soul. Cultivation through martial arts entailed training the body to nourish the soul, then using the soul to examine the body, circulating qi and blood to nourish the body. Over time, both the body and the soul became more powerful, ultimately allowing one to sense the existence of the Heavenly Dao.

In contrast, cultivation through Dao arts completely abandoned physical cultivation in favor of directly training the sensitivity of the soul and the intelligence of the mind, all in the hopes of being able to glean the Great Dao and ascend to immortality someday.

The ultimate goal of both paths of cultivation was to glean the Heavenly Dao, but the Heavenly Dao was far too profound for a mortal to understand. Only after extensive cultivation could one hope to be able to glean the Heavenly Dao.

The state in which one could glean the Heavenly Dao was known as Dao Comprehension. Anyone who reached this state was an almighty figure standing at the peak of this world, and every action they took could influence the entire world.

“For now, I’m going to teach you the way of cultivation through Dao arts,” Qiao Zhi said. “Before reaching the state of Dao Comprehension, cultivating through Dao arts is purely a matter of honing the mind. There are some exceptionally gifted monks and Daoist priests who cultivate through seated meditation every single day for years or even decades on end.

“Throughout this entire time, they appear completely ordinary, but in reality, they are constantly honing their mind and soul. Only then can they attain that flash of enlightenment to enter the state of Dao Comprehension, allowing them to transcend beyond mortality. You were a heavenly immortal to begin with, so this type of cultivation is perfect for you.”

As he spoke, Qiao Zhi sat down with his hind legs crossed, and his folded paws looked nothing like a cat’s. Instead, they were as nimble and dexterous as human hands.

“Laying down makes you prone to sleep, while standing makes you prone to distraction, so the best way to meditate and hone your mind is seated meditation,” Qiao Zhi said. “Sit down, and I’ll teach you how to cultivate.”

Chu Qiguang copied Qiao Zhi, sitting down with his legs crossed. Behind him, the two cats hiding in the shrub poked their heads out again, watching them curiously.

Qiao Zhi had noticed them, but he merely flicked his tail and ignored them.

Chu Qiguang suddenly thought of the bald outsider he had seen at the entrance of the village earlier that day, and he said, “What that outsider at the entrance of the village said today about seeing reality in dreams...”

Qiao Zhi nodded in confirmation as he replied, “I heard that conversation earlier as well. That is a sign of extremely advanced mental cultivation, and that bald man is even more extraordinary. He’s honed his body to the very brink of Dao Comprehension. The authority in his bearing and the heavy baleful aura around him suggests that he’s a figure in the officialdom. I have a good idea of who he is, but we can talk about that another time.”

Qiao Zhi gave a pleased nod at Chu Qiguang’s respectful and studious attitude before continuing, “Since ancient times, there have been countless methods of cultivation. Generations after generations of aspiring humans have honed their souls in order to glean the Heavenly Dao and pave a path to immortality.

“However, right now, there are only twenty-five schools of cultivation that can truly lead to attainment of the Dao Comprehension state. Nine of them fall under martial arts, while sixteen fall under Dao arts, and they’re collectively known as the twenty-five orthodox arts.”

“Why is there such a big difference between the number of martial arts and Dao arts orthodox arts? Is it because it’s easier to attain immortality through cultivating Dao arts than martial arts?” Chu Qiguang asked.

“Not necessarily,” Qiao Zhi replied with a shake of his head. “There’s a saying that one could cultivate Dao arts all their life and still remain a novice, while martial artists could kill with just a month of training. Pursuing Dao arts entails focusing solely on cultivating the soul, making it much more difficult to reach the Dao Comprehension state than for those pursuing martial arts.

“Countless monks and Daoist priests have meditated painstakingly for decades without anything to show for it. However, once they reach the Dao Comprehension state and begin to glean the Heavenly Dao, they’ll gain many incredible abilities and leave their martial artist peers far behind.

“Before attaining the Dao Comprehension state, martial arts are much easier to cultivate than Dao arts and grant one superior power. However, after reaching the Dao Comprehension state, cultivators of the Dao arts have an advantage over their martial artist counterparts in both power and speed of progression. From that point onward, a martial artist would have to put in ten times the effort if they want to surpass a Dao artist of the same level.”

“So one goes from zero to hero, while the other goes from hero to zero,” Chu Qiguang mused with a nod.

He felt like Qiao Zhi was very knowledgeable, so he decided to ask the question that had been lingering in his mind for the past few days. “Master Qiao, do you know of the Purple Mansion Sacred Scripture?”

1. Sometimes, there are too many voices

Perpetually loud, a gurgle of noises

Excessive words, like an auditory slap to the face

Endless droning, the kind that makes your heart race

Constant chatter can have you drowning in stress

Heck, maybe it’s time we all try saying LESS ☜